


While You Were Away

by MrKsan



Series: This is Us [1]
Category: Band of Brothers (TV 2001)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Babe's POV, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Mostly fluff though, Other, POV Third Person, There's a Bet, and its consequences, maybe some self realization
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:21:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28674381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrKsan/pseuds/MrKsan
Summary: “I’m telling you, Bill, they're definitely dating.”“Don’t be crazy,” Bill scowled at him, taking a handful of fries and shoving them into his mouth. Babe rolled his eyes at the display; it was a crime against food to eat fries that way. “No wayDoc and Luzare dating each other.”-Babe meets an old friend of Bill and George. Apparently, he's more than a friend to some people.
Relationships: George Luz/Eugene Roe
Series: This is Us [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2101569
Comments: 12
Kudos: 17





	While You Were Away

Babe walked to the bar to refill his drink. Thanks to Bill, Babe didn’t even get a chance to taste his own beer, the man grabbing it every chance he could while he retold the Doris story again to Babe’s college friends.

He expected to see George manning the bar, like always, but a new, paler, _taller_ face greeted him.

“What can I get you?” The unfamiliar bartender said in a low, lilting voice, and Babe felt it was unfair that the bartenders were always so attractive. Maybe they chose them by their pretty faces, to seduce more money from innocent, unsuspecting customers like Babe?

Babe realized that the man was still waiting for his response, a slightly concerned frown forming on his face.

“Ah, yeah, can I have another?” He slid the empty glass toward the bartender, who went to refill it in graceful movements. “I don’t think I saw you here, before,” Babe asked, leaning on the sticky bar. He grabbed some of the pretzels offered in the tiny bowl.

“Just replacing Georgie for the night,” the man responded, a slight smile on his face. Babe wasn’t one for love at first sight - ok, who is he kidding, he totally had a crush on the mysterious, pretty bartender who smiled so sweetly, and was handing Babe his beer -

“So, what’s your name?” Babe asked before the man was whisked away by another customer.

The man titled his head at him, his smile widening just slightly. “You’re Babe, aren’t you?”

“Oh, how did you know? What did Luz tell you?”

“Nothin’ bad,” the man reassured him. “I’m Gene.”

Babe still squinted suspiciously at him - knowing George, he probably told this Gene _everything_ \- but he accepted the beer.

“Don’t believe anything Luz tells you,” Babe said, taking a sip from his drink. “He’s worse than gossiping widows.”

“I’ll take that into account,” Gene said, straight-faced, and Babe had a feeling he was being laughed at.

Babe returned to his table just as Bill finished one of his stories, erupting into one of his braying laughs.

“There’s a new bartender,” Babe said as a greeting, sighing as Bill once again stole his beer. Again. Maybe he should’ve gotten two. “Someone named Gene.”

“Shit, Doc is back?” Bill said, almost choking on his beer. "That sonabitch didn’t say anything to anyone!”

“Doc?” Babe took back his beer before Bill succeeded in spilling everything on the table.

“Yeah! You remember Doc, we talk about him all the time! Used to go to college with us, before suddenly quitting,” Bill frowned, before trying to frog march out of the boot. “Hey, I should say hi! Move, Babe!”

“Alright, Jeez.”

-

‘All the time’ wouldn’t be an exaggeration, what with how much this Doc appeared in Bill and George’s college stories. Every time something went wrong during their little pranks and escapades, there was Doc, ready to offer a hand and a Stern Look. Babe expected a serious, overworked, soon-to-be-doctor, kind-hearted and soft around the edges.

Instead, he met Gene, who was just as Bill described him but also not all.

And with Gene, Babe came to learn of a side in George he never knew existed.

-

Babe was at George's door, climbing all the steps to the last floor ‘cause the man forgot his phone at his and Bill’s apartment.

Again.

Babe could never understand how someone like George, who was practically glued to his phone most of the time, could be so careless with it. But Babe learned long ago that George was absent-minded in certain aspects of life, and leaving his phone in places was one of them. Forgetting to call before dropping by was another one.

Luckily for George, Babe was a good and loyal friend, and his apartment was on the way to class.

So, here Babe stood, ringing the bell to George’s apartment, and having none other than the Mysterious Bartender of a few nights before opening the door.

“Oh,” Gene said, blinking at him, looking exhausted. His hair was fluffed in all directions, clothes rumpled like he had just awoken from a nap, and Babe would’ve felt bad if it didn’t make the man look so adorable.

“Ah, sorry,” Babe said. “I was looking for George?”

“Oh,” Gene frowned, turning to look behind him. “I think he went out?”

Babe almost laughed at how confused Gene looked. Almost, because Babe felt just as confused to find _Gene_ was at George's apartment.

“Sorry,” Gene sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. “Had a late shift - George lost his phone, so I don’t know - do you want to wait inside?”

Babe grinned at that, taking out George’s phone from his pocket and waving it at Gene. Gene frowned harder at it, looking utterly confused.

“George left his phone at our place last night, I was just returning it,” Babe said, handing the phone to the dazed man. “You’re staying with him?”

“Huh? Ah, yeah.” Gene took the phone, fingers cold, almost entirely covered in the too-big sweatshirt he was wearing. He looked up at the sound of footsteps, and Babe turned to see George carrying two giant grocery bags.

“Hey, Babe! What’re you doing here?”

“Hey George, getting ready to feed the whole village?”

George made a valiant attempt at giving him the bird, what with his hands clutching at the overflowing bags. “Why are you harassing Gene? You know how hard it was to get him to sleep?”

Gene scowled at that, sending a glare George’s way. He still reached out to take the bags from George's hands, replacing them with the phone.

“I was just returning your phone,” Babe said, slowly, glancing between the two of them.

“Huh! I knew I left it somewhere safe!” George grinned as Gene went inside the apartment. “Thanks, Babe. You want to come in? I was just about to make pancakes.”

What Babe really wanted was to figure out what was going on between the two of them, but - “Nah, I was just on my way to class.”

“Yeah, sure,” George nodded. “Maybe we’ll go down to the pub sometime this week?

“Sounds great.” Babe nodded.

“Make sure I don’t have a shift, yeah?” George winked at him.

“Sure, George, just don’t lose your phone again.” Babe grinned, waving goodbye.

“Oh, fuck off.”

-

The pub was dim and warm, quietly buzzing with the mid-week patrons. Babe always loved the place, being less loud than the usual haunts his college friends preferred. He ordered two pints of beer from the bartender (neither George nor Gene, this time, and Babe didn’t feel the need to ask for a name) and sat with Bill while he waited for the other two to arrive.

“I’m telling you, Bill, they're definitely dating.”

“Don’t be crazy,” Bill scowled at him, taking a handful of fries and shoving them into his mouth. Babe rolled his eyes at the display; it was a crime against food to eat fries that way. “No way _Doc and Luz_ are dating each other.”

“Why not?” Babe frowned, confused at Bill’s dismissal. He might’ve known Gene for only a few weeks, but he knew George; and the way these two moved around each other - well, if they weren’t dating now, they would soon enough. Babe would bet on it.

Bill shrugged. “Their personalities don’t fit. At all. Doc is too… Well, Doc is Doc. And you know George.”

“Yeah, that explains it,” Babe snorted, rolling his eyes at his friend.

“Don’t sass me, Heffron. I’ve known those two longer than you have.”

“The guys _live_ together, Bill. You should have seen them!”

“ _We_ live together, Babe,” Bill said, pointing his half-eaten fry at him. “Doc just moved back to Philly. He probably just didn’t find an apartment yet.”

Babe had to admit that Bill had a point.

“I wonder why he’s staying at Luz’s, though. The guy’s apartment is tiny,” Bill mumbled, frowning at his fry. Babe exclaimed an excited “Aha!” at him, but Bill wasn’t having it.

“They _are not_ dating. Me and Joe already had a bet on it, I won. End of story.”

“What bet?”

“Just something we used to do in college - bet who’s dating who or how long until they finally get their heads out of their asses. Joe got it into his head that the two most unlikely people were dating. I said no way, Joe, get your head out your gutter. He lost and I won, _since they are not dating_. So don’t make me look bad with your wild accusations, Babe.”

Babe stared at his best friend. “That’s the stupidest thing I heard."

Bill threw a fry at Babe, and it fell into his beer.

“Oh, c’mon,” Babe whined as fished the drowned potato out of his poor, innocent ale. “You ruined my beer!”

“I made it better.” Bill grinned at him. Babe was about to throw the whole basket over Bill, when George chose that moment to plop into the chair in front of them.

“Hey, fellas, having fun without us?”

“George! You sure took your time getting here.” Bill got up to give George a shoulder hug, affectionate as always with his friends.

“Yeah, sorry, Gene got held at his shift,” George said as he took off his jacket.

Babe sent Bill a look, which the other man ignored. “Where is the good Doc?”

“Getting us drinks - thank you, darling” George winked at Gene, who rolled his eyes as he slid the glass toward him. He was still wearing his EMT uniform, forgoing the jacket for a dark blue hoodie.

“Bill, Edward,” Gene greeted, and Babe blinked at the name.

“What’s with the Edward bullshit, Gene?” Babe whined.

“That’s your name?” Gene blinked wide eyes at him, looking as innocent as the Virgin Mary. It would’ve worked, too, if George wasn’t snickering beside him.

“Edward! I almost forgot you had a proper Christian name!” Bill laughed, making Gene smile slightly, and Babe really didn’t have it in him to be offended.

“Oh hey, Doc, did you hear about Talbert - ?”

The night went by pleasantly enough. Bill and George always had the wildest stories, and both tried to top each other every time. Babe was a close second, what with his shared childhood with Bill and his insane college friends (they tried and succeeded to burn a dumpster, once, just to see if their theory would work; engineering students, man). Gene seemed content to just listen, occasionally adding a comment that managed to throw them into a laughing fit.

And through the entire time they spent sitting and drinking, Babe noticed the signs. George’s arm, resting on the back of Gene’s chair; the casual way Gene was stealing fries from George’s basket. How Gene seemed to smile more at George’s stories.

“So, hey, Doc, why'd you moved back to Philly?” Bill said, as the conversation died down a bit. “Not that we’re not happy to have you back.”

Gene shrugged, hands playing with the beer coaster. “My station manager said there was an opening in Philly. It just seemed the right thing to do.”

“Didn’t you go down to Louisiana to take care of your Grandma?”

Babe frowned at the way both Gene and George tensed at Bill’s words. George seemed to lean farther into Gene’s space, sending a brief look at Bill.

“Ah, she passed away two years ago,” Gene said, not looking up. “Nothing else left for me there, you know.”

Bill stared at Gene, his slight grin dissipating into something more sober. “Shit, Doc, I’m sorry. Shouldn’t have poked at you like that.”

“Nothing to be sorry about” Gene looked up, frowning. “You didn’t know.”

“Ah, still. Here, let me order the next round,” Bill stood up, collecting their empty glasses. The table descended into silence, and Babe watched as Gene leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms.

“Ah, sorry, Gene, I'm sure Bill didn’t mean to…” Babe tried to find the right words.

“It’s alright,” Gene glanced over to the bar, where Bill was ordering their drinks. “I didn’t tell anyone but Spina and George, so.”

“Yeah,” Babe said, awkwardly.

Gene was still frowning at Bill’s direction. “I should go and help him -”

“No, you don’t,” George pushed Gene back to the chair, hand lingering on his shoulder. Gene turned to look at him. “Bill is a grown man, if he insists on paying for our drinks, we should let him.”

Gene’s frown deepened at that, but eventually he sighed and leaned back in his chair. George’s hand went to rest on the back of it again, fingers lightly brushing over his shoulder.

How could anyone miss this - it wasn’t even remotely subtle.

“So, when did you two get together?” Babe asked, just as George was taking a sip from the remains of his beer. George almost choked on his drink, and he sent a dark look toward Gene, who, miracle of miracles, actually laughed.

It was a quiet, tiny thing, but Babe was delighted. It seemed like a rare gift, getting a laugh from Gene.

“I told you he’d figure it out,” Gene grinned as he patted George on the back. George, still coughing, just rolled his eyes at the paramedic.

“Yeah, yeah, Doc Roe is always right,” George rasped.

“Damn straight I am.”

“Not so straight,” Goerge giggled, earning an exasperated look from Gene. Babe grinned at their interaction. In your face, Bill!

“Bill is gonna be so angry that I was right,” Babe said out loud.

“Oh shit, wait, Babe,” George leaned forward on the table. “Don’t tell Bill yet, yeah? I want to see how long it’ll take them to figure it out.” And he winked at Babe.

“.…Why?” Babe asked, already suspecting the answer.

“Well, see,” George started, sending glances at the bar. “I _know_ they have a bet going on, right? And honestly, I’m a bit offended Bill would ever bet on us never getting together. I mean, seriously, like I would ever give up on this beautiful man -”

“ _George -_ ”

“So we’re just waiting to see when Bill and Joe and the other guys are going to figure us out.”

“Ha,” Babe said. “That’s… insane.”

“They're gonna find out next week, anyway,” Gene supplied. “What with havin’ a housewarming party and all.”

George pouted. “I still think they’ll just see us as roommates, ya know?”

“Can’t hide this forever, George,” Gene said, turning to look at him.

“It was fun while it lasted, I guess.” George suddenly smirked, sending a mischievous look at Babe. “You can’t believe all the secret s -”

“ _Don’t_.” Gene glared at his boyfriend, sporting a slight blush on his pale cheeks. Bill chose that moment to return, carrying four glasses of beer and two baskets of fries stacked precariously on top of them.

“Dig in, boys,” Bill called, sliding everything on the sticky table. “So what did I miss?”

Babe locked eyes with George, and decided to let them have their fun. “George and Gene are planning a housewarming party next week.”

“Oh? So you’re officially roommates now?” Bill asked, and blinked in confusion when everyone, even Gene, erupted into laughter.

-

“So you knew?” Babe asked Ralph as they approached George’s building. “How come you know and everyone else is clueless?”

Ralph shrugged. “I have eyes,” he said. “Gene was my roommate, yeah? So I saw the two of them the most, I guess.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, but they didn’t get together until Gene left to take care of his Grandma, you know? They were both being idiots about it,” Ralph said, adjusting his wool cap.

“Huh.”

Ralph squinted at him, suspicious. “Why the sudden interest in George’s love life?”

Babe scowled, opening the door to the building. The staircase wasn’t any warmer than the freezing outside, and Babe couldn’t wait to get inside the warm apartment. “You make it sound like I’m a pervert or something.”

“You sure ask a lot of questions, Babe.”

“Out of curiosity! I just met Gene, remember?” Babe huffed. ”And Bill is being weird about it, too.”

“Oh, is it because of the bet?”

“Exactly!”

“You know Bill.” Ralph shrugged. “He thinks he knows everyone and everything.”

“Still,” Babe said as they reached the right floor. He was always out of breath when climbing these damn stairs. “Why did George have to live in the only building in Philly without an elevator?”

“It’s close to the pub.” Ralph shrugged, breathing normally, which was entirely unfair.

The doorbell barely rang its obnoxious ring before a grinning George opened the door to them, cheeks flushed with the blessed heat of the apartment.

“Finally, we were just about to send a search party after you!” George called, ushering them inside. 

The tiny apartment seemed to spill with people. Babe spotted Bill and Joe Toye at the couch, raising their beers at him; Lieb, over the corner, already managed to get into some hand-waving argument with Webster; and Martin, scowling at Frank as the latter tried to build a tower out of Pringles.

“Looks like everyone is here,” Babe said, taking off his coat. It was insanely warm here, almost suffocating with the amount of people squeezed into the small space.

“Crazy, right?” George grinned. “Everyone is excited to see Gene again, the poor guy.”

Babe followed George’s gaze, spotting Gene in a deep conversation with Lip and Speirs. Well, Lip seemed to be doing all the talking, neither Gene nor Speirs seemed like talkative people in their nature.

“Oh, man.” Ralph smiled. “It must be killing him, all this attention.”

“Don’t worry. I’m going to make it up to him later.” George winked before running off to do some more host duties. Babe blinked.

“I think I understand now why Bill doesn’t believe those two are dating,” Babe said. Ralph groaned.

“Don’t believe his Bambi eyes,” Ralph said, getting a chip from one of the many bowls placed on every available flat surface. “Gene is way worse once you get him going.”

-

All in all, it ended up being one of the best parties Babe went to. Everyone seemed to be delighted that Gene was back - from Joe who gave him a heavy pat on the back, to Speirs, Lip’s incredibly scary boyfriend, whom Gene apparently helped stitch a head wound for.

George stuck to Gene’s side, too, Babe noticed. Or most of the time, anyway. George seemed to also take his hosting duties seriously, running from corner to corner to make sure everyone had a drink (and even got Dick his favorite sweet tea, to the redhead's delight) and refilling the snack bowls with the dazzling efficiency of a bartender.

Babe had to laugh at the panicked look Gene had every time George disappeared from his side, even if it was just for a minute. Babe suspected that given the choice, Gene would be content to just sit in the corner and watch over the party.

“Yeah, fine, I can see why everyone thinks they wouldn’t match,” Babe mumbled to himself, taking a sip from his now-warm beer.

“Who thinks what?” A voice said, and Babe almost choked on his drink. He sent a glare to George, who plopped beside him.

George grinned, letting his arms fall on the back of the couch, sprawling like he owned it. Which he did. “So who wouldn’t match?”

“Ah, no one,” Babe tried, but George just raised an eyebrow at him.

“Ugh, fine,” Babe said as downed his beer. “Just thinking about you and Gene.”

George raised both his eyebrows.

“Not like that, Jesus,” Babe scowled, trying to distract from the way his cheeks heated at the image. “Just what you and Bill said about the bet. How you don’t match.”

“Is that what Bill said?” George frowned.

“Ah, yeah, but you know Bill.” And Babe was really starting to regret his giant mouth, ‘cause George’s smile slid off completely.

“Yeah,” George said, running a hand over his face. He let himself fall forward, elbows resting on his knees. “I guess it really is hard to believe that we’re a couple, huh?”

Babe glanced down at George, who was frowning at the floor, looking in deep thought.

“Who cares what they think,” Babe started, but George cut him off.

“It’s just,” George started, in a low voice. “It’s just, everyone knows Gene is serious and quiet, right? And _everyone knows_ your old George Luz is just the class clown, right?”

“Well, not exactly -”

“Eh, that’s how we are.” George shrugged. “Opposite personalities. As if we’ll never be good enough for each if we can't agree on everything.”

George looked up, eyes searching the crowd for something - or someone, Babe guessed, as he spotted Gene on the farther side of the room. Gene was frowning at something Webster was saying, the latter looking much more excited about the subject than Gene was.

Gene looked up, as if sensing someone watching him; his face transformed into a smile when he realized it was George. Of course, this just seemed to encourage the oblivious Web, who began another bout of excited hand-waving, earning an exasperated look from Gene who was too polite to tell him off.

George huffed a laugh at that, shaking his head.

“Well,” Babe said, slowly. George turned back at him, sporting a gentle smile. “I think you two are perfect for each other. Who cares what the others think.”

George’s smile widened, eyes sparkling with mischief. And Babe knew he was going to do something insane.

“Thanks, Babe,” George got up, ruffling his hair into an artistic mess Babe could only achieve after hours of careful styling, and turned around with a determined step. Babe’s eyes couldn't help but follow as George navigated through the crowd, mind set on one goal.

“Hey, Babe, what’s up?” Bill fell into the vacated sit, just as George reached Gene. Babe couldn’t help but grin at Bill.

“You might want to avoid Joe in the next few days,” Babe said, earning a very confused look from the older man. Babe just pointed toward George.

Gene seemed just as confused at George’s enthusiasm, sending a questioning look when George stopped beside him. George just grinned, leaning close to whisper something in his ear, earning a smile from Gene. Web huffed at the interruption, finally taking the hint and moving somewhere else.

“Hey, Bill!” George called over the crowd, managing to catch everyone’s attention along the way.

“What?” Bill called back. Babe had to stifle his laugh; he had a good idea of what George was planning.

George didn’t waste time. He pulled Gene into a kiss, made awkward by Gene’s surprise. But after a moment, Gene seemed to get with the program, moving to rest a hand on his waist and pull George closer.

The room fell into silence as the two separated; George’s hand still grasping Gene’s shirt while Gene had one in George’s hair. They locked eyes, Gene’s cheeks flushed pink while George was grinning like a madman.

“I knew it!” Joe called from across the room, making everyone jump. “Gonorrhea, you owe me twenty bucks!”

“You bet a measly twenty bucks on us?” George called back, looking ready to jump at Joe if Gene wasn’t holding his waist.

Bill groaned beside him, sliding low on the couch.

“I’m never going to hear the end of it,” He said. Babe had to laugh at that.

And as much as Bill hated losing, or not knowing the latest gossip, he took his losses and eventually sauntered over to George and Gene to congratulate them. Gene was still flushed red and George had a smug smile on his face, but both looked entirely too pleased with themselves.

“Now everyone knows,” Ralph said, handing him a beer.

“Good,” Babe said. “Any longer and it would be really embarrassing for some people.”

They clinked their beers together, and couldn't help but laugh when Bill practically squealed, “Two years?! You’ve been dating for two years! George, you bastard!”

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to [Laura ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anthrobrat/pseuds/Anthrobrat) and [Storm ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/storm_of_sharp_things/pseuds/storm_of_sharp_things)for betaing!
> 
> Do I have anything to say about this fic? So much. But I'll just say that I love this ship and I love Babe and I love people being in love, so this was born. Hope you enjoyed the story!
> 
> There will be a prequel about how George and Gene met, though :)
> 
> (Come say hello on [Tumblr!](https://starrboned.tumblr.com/))


End file.
